T-Hinges for Traditional Doors

February 18, 2014

written by
Vicki Bale Share

Oak Door With Iron T-Hinges

T-HINGES FOR TRADITIONAL DOORS

If you have planked doors (also known as cottage doors, ledged and braced doors, ledged and boarded doors) where you have vertical planks on one side and three or four horizontal ledges on the back, then you need suitable hinges. This style of door if internal, often has verticals which are under 25mm thick, so you are limited to certain ways of hanging and fastening them. Butt hinges, sash locks and latches are all designed for doors over 35mm thick.

Planked doors should be hung with T-Hinges, as these can be mounted along the front or rear of the door and flush with the frame. These are hinges which are hand forged by a blacksmith and constructed with a fixing plate which screws to the frame, a knuckle or actual hinge part and a hinge arm. The arm can be anything from our smallest hinge with a 76mm arm or a barn door hinge with a 825mm arm. T-hinges are a part of the look of a traditional door and never be tempted to skimp on the length. The hinge actually helps to support the door along its width and will prevent sagging of the outer planks. The hinges ideally should be 2/3 of the way across the door, but no less than 1/2 way, the longer the arm the more support your door will have over the years. Planked style doors come in all shapes and sizes, from barn doors to external doors, full size internal doors and cupboard doors. We have a wide range of iron hinges for all types of traditional door including nine lengths 4/6/9/12/15/18/22/24 and 36″.

The ends of T-hinges are generally shaped. They can be highly decorative or quite simple. We offer a penny round or an arrowhead end, both are designs taken from period originals. In terms of the finish, we have beeswax for internal use, black powder coated for external use and pewter patina (an attractive silvery finish, but not as traditional as black iron).

Iron hinges should be combined with an iron suffolk latch and we do ones to match the penny and arrowhead ends. Look at the Bean and Gothic suffolk latches. Another alternative is to go for an Oak Suffolk Latch which we have on our own doors and we love them.